just simple post this evening... wait - it's morning! why is it that everytime there is a deadline, the creative juices either dry up or start flowing? brings back some fun memories of college when i would wait until the last possible moment to come up with a design for an assignment. some of my projects were complete duds... except for the one that I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to do - then the lightbulb moment went off... create an ad for a client you already had! the assignment was to create a marketing piece - nothing more than that, except that it was to be entered into the Art Directors Club student competition.
fun........ the piece was an ad slick called a "one sheet" for the television station, Channel 5 (yes, Fox television)...... advertising the upcoming tennis tournament broadcast. with an hour to spare—the assignment got turned in (of course after working all night on it).... and to my surprise.... it took 1st place in the student category!!!
Deadlines.... they pushed the envelope, I thought outside the box and came up with an idea that was a little different... creative, clean, bold... had it been planned - who knew what would have been the look of the piece. in this case, it worked—but in the overall scheme of things, planning & thinking out the details is the best thing for a marketing plan or a great design.....
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
How am I creative? Am I? Are we?
I wonder, am I creative? Do people like my work? For that matter, do people like the way we do business? I hear self-doubting voices in my head or in GC's voice alot. We constantly ask ourselves, why do we do what we do? Why did we choose the path of being an artist?
Being an artist can be a very rewarding career, but then again - there is that statement - if you become an artist, you take the risk of being that "starving artist". When we got into our career stream, path... whatever you want to call it, we didn't have the computer to aid in our artistic path - we did everything by hand! Yes, I said - we did everything by hand. Laying out a line of type that went across a letterhead design was created with ruling tape & Letraset press-on type. We took a piece of bright white drawing board, drew out our cropmarks on the edges, and then created our design. If we wanted more than 2 colors on the piece, we created separations by drawing on velum paper & then cutting out the different colors into a film called amberlith/rubylith, we would draw out the black lines with rapidograph pens.... we then took the separate colors on the amber/ruby-lith or vellum paper and taped them on top of the page - overlapping where we needed to overlap the colors. Gosh, it's been so long since I've done something like that, I'm trying to visualize in my head what all the steps to the process were.... just to tell all of you!
Today, we have a different type of tool set. Yes, we still sketch out our designs on paper - but we take those sketches, scan them into our computer & then draw our designs on the computer! We now have tools called Illustrator, CorelDraw, InDesign, Photoshop, Painter, etc. We can do fancier & more complex type designs with these software tools - but have we as artists become too dependant on the computer to create our elaborate designs? Maybe the true artists are those artists that still create their paintings or illustrations with a pencil, paintbrush, and paint. They love the feel of paper - the moosh of clay in their hands, the splatter of paint on their clothes.
Have we lost our creativity to the inanimate computer world? Are our talents undervalued because now everyone can draw.... or think they can draw? My feeling is that we live in a very visual world - we are surrounded by art every day. It's on the signs we see that direct us, the cereal box that we reach for in the morning, even the newspaper. Creativity is all around us & we need to reach deep in our sole to see the true art in all that surrounds us.
Value the fact that you can drawn a doodle, write your name ... that's art. Hug an artist the next time you meet one..... & just think of it this way... "Artists are just children who refused to put down their crayons."
Being an artist can be a very rewarding career, but then again - there is that statement - if you become an artist, you take the risk of being that "starving artist". When we got into our career stream, path... whatever you want to call it, we didn't have the computer to aid in our artistic path - we did everything by hand! Yes, I said - we did everything by hand. Laying out a line of type that went across a letterhead design was created with ruling tape & Letraset press-on type. We took a piece of bright white drawing board, drew out our cropmarks on the edges, and then created our design. If we wanted more than 2 colors on the piece, we created separations by drawing on velum paper & then cutting out the different colors into a film called amberlith/rubylith, we would draw out the black lines with rapidograph pens.... we then took the separate colors on the amber/ruby-lith or vellum paper and taped them on top of the page - overlapping where we needed to overlap the colors. Gosh, it's been so long since I've done something like that, I'm trying to visualize in my head what all the steps to the process were.... just to tell all of you!
Today, we have a different type of tool set. Yes, we still sketch out our designs on paper - but we take those sketches, scan them into our computer & then draw our designs on the computer! We now have tools called Illustrator, CorelDraw, InDesign, Photoshop, Painter, etc. We can do fancier & more complex type designs with these software tools - but have we as artists become too dependant on the computer to create our elaborate designs? Maybe the true artists are those artists that still create their paintings or illustrations with a pencil, paintbrush, and paint. They love the feel of paper - the moosh of clay in their hands, the splatter of paint on their clothes.
Have we lost our creativity to the inanimate computer world? Are our talents undervalued because now everyone can draw.... or think they can draw? My feeling is that we live in a very visual world - we are surrounded by art every day. It's on the signs we see that direct us, the cereal box that we reach for in the morning, even the newspaper. Creativity is all around us & we need to reach deep in our sole to see the true art in all that surrounds us.
Value the fact that you can drawn a doodle, write your name ... that's art. Hug an artist the next time you meet one..... & just think of it this way... "Artists are just children who refused to put down their crayons."
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
1st National Juried Photography Show
What an exhausting day. Really a day of excitment—the 1st National Juried Photography show was hung today at the Workhouse Arts Center. I was joined by my fellow photogs, Carol & Ed (w/ his wife, Marti & their friend Sue) to hang 68 pieces of striking photography. Most of the photographers that juried into the show are from the Washington, DC area, but it really was exciting to see several photographers from out of state! We have one person from New Mexico and one from Connecticut! Of course I got even more excited when I found out that the person from Connecticut is one of my old high school friends... talk about a small world.
The show will be judged by the juror (Ann Shumard, the Curator of Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C) this Friday. My fingers are crossed... will my piece Carnival get an honorable mention, 3rd, 2nd or wait... I know.... a 1st place award!!!. Guess I'll have to wait and see :-).
The artist reception for this special show will be August 9, 2-4pm. Workhouse Art Center, Building W-16. 9601 Ox Rd., Lorton, VA.
Hope to see all of you there....... there's more exciting news on the horizon! And of course I'll be sure to post photos from the show.
The show will be judged by the juror (Ann Shumard, the Curator of Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C) this Friday. My fingers are crossed... will my piece Carnival get an honorable mention, 3rd, 2nd or wait... I know.... a 1st place award!!!. Guess I'll have to wait and see :-).
The artist reception for this special show will be August 9, 2-4pm. Workhouse Art Center, Building W-16. 9601 Ox Rd., Lorton, VA.
Hope to see all of you there....... there's more exciting news on the horizon! And of course I'll be sure to post photos from the show.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Photography & Illustration....
Photography & illustration are really important to us—photography for Kathy, illustration/painting for GC. If we had our way, we would be living off our passions (hint, hint). But, in the meantime, here are some of the goings on for us:
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Guerilla Art Show.
GC was a featured artist in the 1st Guerilla Art Show at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, VA. Of course by now - you are asking what is a Guerilla Art show. The true definition of a guerilla art show is one that is thrown together very, very quickly. In this case, GC was asked by the executive director of the Workhouse if he had enough finished art to fill the 2nd floor of the main exhibit building. They needed to put together an exhibit within a weeks time. So, with a smile & a chuckle, he said, "some pieces... but we know enough artists to put together an exhibit." With that, Kathy called everyone she knew from the Women's Caucas for Art/DC Chapter, artist friends... and of course GC. GC was proud to exhibit some of his fine art paintings. He specializes in water colors—but most recently, he loves to combine his love of digital painting and the real stuff. Here is a sample of one of his pieces that was in the show.
Needless to say, the show was a success! The artists that participated in the show were: Don Hurlbert, GC Schow, Marilyn Hayes, Niki Vanech, Cindy Renteria, Nana Bagdavadze, Jennifer Judelsohn, Merle Davison, Margaret Paris, Adam Eig, Wendy Fike, Marilyn Banner, Lynn Grossman, Jane Pettit, and Ellen Mosher. The show ran from June 30 to July 26, 2009.
I want to really thank everyone that participated in the show. Besides GC's work that I'm sharing with everyone, I want to share one of the more unusal pieces from artist Jane Pettit. She is a mosaic artist, her work Maiden of the Deep was creative and humorous! I can't begin to tell you the number of cheerful comments I heard from viewers! What do you think? (leave a comment!)
Photography & All Jazz.
Kathy has been in the photography world for a while now. She loves sharing her work, discussing it, and most of all selling & exhibiting it! For those of your that know us—this is old news, but for those that don't, Kathy is a founding member of the Workhouse Photographic Society. The Workhouse Photographic Society (WPS), established in 2008, is a cooperative photography studio and gallery at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. The Gallery membership consisted of award-winning photographers whose images hang in many private and public collections. Its members are sought-after speakers, noted educators and talented artists whose distinct visions are presented photographically through traditional, digital and alternative photographic techniques. Every eight weeks, there is a featured photographer—while the rest of the co-op shows off their talents on a smaller scale.
From March 15-May 3, her exhibition, Through the Looking Glass, showed people what her vision of how she sees the world. The series of work was a colorful & rythmic-depicting images of nature, people, and daily scenes from her travels. A sample of one of her pieces that hung in the show is Striped Wall, as well as a shot of Kathy talking to her guests the night of the artist's reception.
1st National Juried Photography Competition at the Workhouse Art Center.
We are pleased to announce that Kathy's piece Carnival was accepted into the 1st National Juried Photography Competition at the Workhouse Art Center. The exhibition will run from July 29-August 22, 2009. Ann Shumard, the Curator of Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. will serve as Juror for the competition. Ms. Shumard will also award a $500 Best in Show and 3 Equal Merits of $150 each. The public is invited to the free awards reception on August 9th from 2-4pm. As always, all works will be available for purchase during the exhibit.Spinning the Creative Web...
About a year ago, I decided that we would join the blogosphere world. At that time, it was a well-meaning intention, but it just never got off the ground. Life and business got in the way and "Creative Adventures" sat on the back burner.
I thought about what I would say... what would our blog talk about? Would it be a place where we could discuss anything creative? I hear all the time, what does creative mean to us? To our business? For our hobbies? For our personal growth? Just about anything creative. To introduce Creative Adventures and "us", we need to explain that the us is ImageWerks. Digging a little deeper—the "us" that's behind ImageWerks is Kathy Strauss & GC Schow... partners in business... partners in life. We work, eat, breathe, live creativity.
We are a successful design team with over 30 years of experience. GC is a designer and illustrator, Kathy is also a designer and photographer. We love combining our talents to create the total package for our clients. We take our clients from start to finish... from inception to the marketplace... together, we create the image and first impression to capture and promote the essence of your business. Then, we identify the avenues to get your message to the marketplace. Our business offers branding & marketing, print design, web design, and photography/illustration. We would love to talk to you about your business' creative needs—we will even sit down with you to review your marketing materials now at no cost to see if you to see if we can come up with any new ideas. If you like them, we'll talk about what we can do for you. If you don't, you walk away.
So, in a nutshell - ImageWerks, Kathy, GC - we're one in the same. We love what we do, we love the people we meet, and we love creativity. Give us a shout..... let's talk!
I thought about what I would say... what would our blog talk about? Would it be a place where we could discuss anything creative? I hear all the time, what does creative mean to us? To our business? For our hobbies? For our personal growth? Just about anything creative. To introduce Creative Adventures and "us", we need to explain that the us is ImageWerks. Digging a little deeper—the "us" that's behind ImageWerks is Kathy Strauss & GC Schow... partners in business... partners in life. We work, eat, breathe, live creativity.
We are a successful design team with over 30 years of experience. GC is a designer and illustrator, Kathy is also a designer and photographer. We love combining our talents to create the total package for our clients. We take our clients from start to finish... from inception to the marketplace... together, we create the image and first impression to capture and promote the essence of your business. Then, we identify the avenues to get your message to the marketplace. Our business offers branding & marketing, print design, web design, and photography/illustration. We would love to talk to you about your business' creative needs—we will even sit down with you to review your marketing materials now at no cost to see if you to see if we can come up with any new ideas. If you like them, we'll talk about what we can do for you. If you don't, you walk away.
So, in a nutshell - ImageWerks, Kathy, GC - we're one in the same. We love what we do, we love the people we meet, and we love creativity. Give us a shout..... let's talk!
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